Angela Roman

• Professor, PhD.
• Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania

Starting from the significant role played by entrepreneurship in the economy and also from the pressing problem of gender inequality, in this paper we aim to analyse the link between entrepreneurship and economic development, with emphasis on the mediating role of gender and motivations of entrepreneurs. We apply panel data regression models on a s...

Using a multiple linear regression model, this paper examines the role of banking sector development on economic growth in the European Union member countries. The analysis covers a period of 21 years (2000-2020) and is based on data obtained, mainly, from the World Bank's World Development Indicators database. Our empirical results would indicate...

The paper aims to discuss the current challenges of the banking sector in terms of risks in bank lending and to highlight the importance of effective risk management. The analysis spans a 21-year period (2000-2020) and focuses on three groups of countries, namely all European Union (EU) countries, euro area countries and non-euro area countries. Us...

The profound negative effects of the current pandemic crisis on firms, especially small and medium-sized ones, have forced them to rethink their business models. In order to survive and compete, many businesses have focused on adopting and using digital technologies. Several studies have shown that digital technologies could facilitate business con...

The short- and long-term effects of public debt on economic growth in EU countries is analyzed in this paper, using data that covers a period of 25 years (1995–2019). For public debt, we used a proxy general government gross debt (as a percentage of GDP), while for economic growth, we used the real GDP per capita growth rate. In addition, our model...

Access to finance is one of the most important determinants of success and even the survival of a business. Several theoretical and empirical studies argue that small and medium-sized enterprises usually face more problems in obtaining financing compared to larger enterprises. The same happens in the case of enterprises that are in the first years...

Theory and practice suggest that entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth. The speed with which a nation moves from economic growth to economic development depends on the performance of entrepreneurial initiatives. Given the role played by entrepreneurship for the development of an economy, increasing its performance can help the developme...

This study aims to highlight the role of access to finance as one of the determinants on the decision to enter into entrepreneurship of students regarded as potential entrepreneurs. For achieving our main objective, we created a questionnaire. As a method of analysis, we run the least square logistic regression, with entrepreneurial intentions as a...

Entrepreneurship is recognized as one of the factors stimulating economic growth and increasing economic competitiveness. In addition, the Europe 2020 Strategy has focused its attention on entrepreneurship as a key factor of economic growth, social progress, and employment. In this context, our study examines the role of entrepreneurial performance...

Our paper analyses the link between business regulations and entrepreneurship and investigates how certain areas of business regulation affect the dynamics of creating new firms. Moreover, we aim to identify which indicators of business regulation would be most relevant for supporting and promoting entrepreneurship. The study focuses on a sample of...

Due to their overwhelming majority in the non-financial business sector, but also to the important role in generating added value and creating jobs, Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered to be drivers of economic growth. The dynamics of the activity and performance of these enterprises are influenced by internal and external factors. A...

Tax policy is a key dimension of the institutional environment in a country with multiple implications on entrepreneurial activities. Several studies in the entrepreneurship literature have highlighted the crucial role of tax policy in a person's decision to start a new firm. This paper investigates the link between tax policy and new firm formatio...

The aim of our paper is to identify how entrepreneurs from European Union (EU) countries use information and communications technologies (ICTs) in their business activities. We also propose to identify if there are differences in the use of ICTs by entrepreneurs, according to level of economic development of EU countries. In order to achieve these...

Our paper examines the potential effect of different types of entrepreneurship (in particular, early-stage entrepreneurship, opportunity-driven entrepreneurship, and necessity-driven entrepreneurship) on economic growth at a national level and aims to identify whether the contribution of entrepreneurship to economic growth differs according to the...

The significant role played by youth entrepreneurship for the economic growth of countries has shift the attention of researchers to the potential entrepreneurs, and how to stimulate the enter on the market of new and innovative individuals which might have positive effects on economic development. The present research is conducted to identify the...

Entrepreneurship and new business entry are known as key drivers of the economic and social development of countries, and their dynamics is influenced by numerous environmental and individual factors. Among the environmental factors that affect the creation of new businesses, the institutional environment plays an important role, especially fiscal...

The objective of our paper is to investigate how the access to finance affects the creation of new business in EU, by identifying the relationship between several indicators, measuring the access to finance, the specifics of business environment, and the dynamics of new business creation. Our analysis includes ten indicators and it is covering the...

Our paper aims to analyse the dynamics of real economic convergence and the impact of several macroeconomic and institutional factors on this process, within the EU countries for the period 1995-2018. Employing cross-sectional and panel data techniques, this paper examines both the level and dynamics of absolute and conditional convergence within t...

The aim of our research is to empirically evaluate and analyse the effects of quality of institutions on the level of early-stage entrepreneurial activity, but also on the motivation of individuals to start new businesses and thus to enter into entrepreneurship. Our research focuses on member countries of the European Union, using panel data estima...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of corporate governance characteristics on bank profitability in Emerging Europe while controlling for bank - specific and macroeconomic level factors. We analyze the effects on banking profitability using panel data fixed effects (within) and System GMM models, based on hand-collected dataset regardi...

Purpose – the purpose of this paper is to identify how entrepreneurs from European Union (EU) use informational and communicational technologies in their business activities. We also try to identify the benefits and the challenges arisen for the European entrepreneurs in using information technologies. Research methodology – we analyze a sample of...

The accelerated development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past two decades has encouraged an increasing number of researchers to examine and measure the impact of this technology on economic growth. Our study aims to identify and evaluate the effect of using ICT infrastructure on economic growth in European Union (EU) c...

Our paper aims to investigate how the changes in macroeconomic conditions and the quality of insti-tutions affect the level of entrepreneurial activity in 18 European Union countries, over the period 2002–2016. Using panel-data estimation techniques, we alternatively analyzed the effects of some macroeconomic and institutional framework related fac...

This paper analyses the main economic factors that are influencing the competitiveness of Central and Eastern European (C.E.E.) countries. The research was carried out on a sample of ten countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia), over the period 2004–2016. These countries were...

Entrepreneurship is considered a significant determinant for the economic development of a country but is also important for new job creation and innovation. Understanding and examining the factors which affect the decision of individuals to become entrepreneurs play a significant role for the decision makers in order to identify the adequate measu...

This paper studies empirical association between global financial shocks and firm behaviour towards liquidity needs across emerging countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Through this paper we aimed to identify the impact of the recent financial crisis on the financing decisions of the firms in seven Central and Eastern European countries (name...

Our paper aims to identify the key factors that affect the establishment of new businesses in eighteen developed and emerging member countries in the European Union over the period 2003–2015. Using panel-data estimation techniques, we alternatively assess the effects of some macroeconomic, demographic, individual, and business environment–related f...

Climate change is a major threat for our planet, with major negative impacts on economies and populations. International and regional organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and governments have joined forces to take meaningful action against it. The European Union has also prioritised the fight against climate change, creating and implementi...

Entrepreneurship plays a major role in national economies, being considered one of the main engines of economic growth, and an important contributor to creating new jobs and innovations. Identifying the main determinants of entrepreneurial activity is important for helping the decision makers in adopting adequate measures to support the creation an...

The entrepreneurship has a major role for the economic development of a country and also for job creation and innovation. The entrepreneurial activity is influenced by many factors, understanding and examining these factors is very important for identifying the adequate measures that can support and develop the entrepreneurial activity. The economi...

The aim of our paper is to empirically investigate the impact of the changes in macroeconomic environment on the financial soundness of the banking sector (as measured by bank Z-score) in 11 Central and Eastern European countries, over the period 2000-2014. The results of our empirical study indicate that the financial soundness of the banking sect...

Improving SME’s performance is a major concern because they are a significant source for creating value added, employment, innovation and economic growth. Through this paper we analyse the evolution of the SMEs performance in terms of employment in the last years, and we try to determine which of the macroeconomic performance indicators are influen...

The significant importance of entrepreneurship for the economic development, job creation and innovation have increased the concerns of researchers and decision makers at different levels for the understanding and investigation of the factors that could have an impact on the level of entrepreneurial activity. Our study aims to empirically investiga...

The major importance of entrepreneurship for economic growth, competitiveness, creating jobs and innovation is widely recognized. The objectives of our paper are to realize a comparative analyze of the characteristics of entrepreneurship in the EU countries, as well as to identify the perceptions about it. For our analysis we use the values for the...

The aim of our paper is to identify the main determinants of entrepreneurial motivations and to empirically evaluate their impact in 18 EU member states, over the period 2002-2014. The empirical analysis is performed based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the World Bank. In the econometric model, we considered as dependent varia...

The aim of our paper is to identify the main determinants of entrepreneurial motivations and to empirically evaluate their impact in 18 EU member states, over the period 2002-2014. The empirical analysis is performed based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the World Bank. In the econometric model, we considered as dependent varia...

The objective of our study is to identify the key macroeconomic factors with impact on the dynamics of non-performing bank loans and to empirically assess their contribution in 11 Central and Eastern European countries (namely Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia), over the p...

The Central and Eastern European countries have experienced starting with 2008 significant imbalances that have affected profound their business environment. Thus, the firms operating in the region have faced, and continue to face, difficulties and major challenges. Through this paper we aim at analyzing the key indicators that characterize the bus...

The objective of our study is to identify the key macroeconomic factors with impact on the dynamics of non-performing bank loans and to empirically assess their contribution in 11 Central and Eastern European countries (namely Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia), over the p...

The recent economic and financial crisis has had a tremendous impact on the banking system, raising key questions about liquidity risk. Its management is seen to be of paramount importance, receiving great attention from policymakers, researchers and practitioners, taking into consideration that a liquidity shortage at a single so called “too big t...

The access to finance is very important for the proper functioning and development of the enterprises. But, unfortunately, the access to finance is one of the major problems faced by the SMEs from all the European Union countries. Moreover, the recent financial crisis has brought even more challenges for these enterprises, because the deteriorating...

Improving access to finance for SMEs by promoting the development of alternative non-banking financing channels represents in the current context a highly debated topic by European and national authorities, and academics. This paper discusses the possibility of EU28 SMEs financing through the capital markets, highlighting the difficulties faced by...

In this paper we analyze whether the Romanian economic context confirms the Armey model, and present the relationship between public spending and economic growth that may offer a suitable basis for decision makers. The analysis is based on both annual and quarterly data regarding public spending and economic growth in Romania. After investigating t...

The aim of our paper is to empirically investigate the determinants of the quality of bank loans portfolio for a panel of 29 commercial banks from two new EU Member States, namely Bulgaria and Romania, over the period 2003-2012. Our study is based on annual data coming from Bankscope Database, commercial banks’ annual reports, Eurostat and World Ba...

Our study focuses on commercial banks which are operating in Bulgaria and Romania, two countries whose banking sectors have registered major structural changes in the transition to a market economy and which are showing some similarities. Similar to other EU countries, the financial system from Bulgaria and Romania is dominated by the banking secto...

The paper aims to empirically evaluate the effects of macroeconomic factors on non-performing bank loans in EU countries, for the period 2000-2013. Its value added comes from providing evidence on the macroeconomic factors with impact on bank loans quality for all EU countries, and also by assessing the effects of public finance variables on the ra...

The objective of our study is to identify the key macroeconomic factors with impact on the dynamics of non-performing bank loans and to empirically assess their contribution in 11 Central and Eastern European countries (namely Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia), over the p...

The aim of our paper is to empirically investigate the determinants of the quality of bank loans portfolio for a panel of 29 commercial banks from two new EU Member States, namely Bulgaria and Romania, over the period 2003-2012. Our study is based on annual data coming from Bankscope Database, commercial banks’ annual reports, Eurostat and World Ba...

This paper aims to analyze the specific interconnections established between public indebtedness and inflation, both from the perspective of considering inflation as a result of public borrowing and of voluntarily promoting inflation to reduce the (real) value of public debt and to ease its burden. It identifies the channels through which these eff...

For ensuring a healthy, solid and stable banking sector, the evaluation and analysis of bank profitability is crucial so that possible weak points and vulnerabilities can be corrected and disposed. The aim of our research is to empirically evaluate the impact of specific internal and external factors on bank profitability, for a sample of 86 commer...

In a modern economy the banking institutions fulfil a double role, on the one hand they provide financial resources for investors while on the other hand they represent a trusted body for depositors. Liquidity risk may arise from the inability of a bank to provide liquidity as stipulated in the contracts, either to investors or depositors, this bei...

This paper aims to analyze the specific interconnections established between public indebtedness and inflation, both from the perspective of considering inflation as a result of public borrowing and of voluntarily promoting inflation to reduce the (real) value of public debt and to ease its burden. It identifies the channels through which these eff...

Although it is generally admitted that, when the public authorities of a country directly or indirectly (through granting public guarantees) incur debt towards the rest of the world, the specific flows of foreign currency resources (withdrawals and debt service expenditures) affect upon the equilibrium of the balance of payments of that country, th...

The European business environment is predominantly based on small and medium size enterprises, which altogether account for 99% of the businesses and have a vital importance for the sustainable economic growth and the job creation process. From an economic and social point of view, the SMEs sector generates approximately 60% from the added value of...

Major negative implications of the recent global financial crisis on the financial system, monetary transmission mechanism and the real economy led to unprecedented, rapid, strong actions and of considerable size from central banks, particularly in developed countries severely affected. From the perspective of monetary policy, central bank reactio...

The global financial and economic crisis has revealed that the missing pillar of financial stability architecture was the macroprudential approach of the financial supervision and designing of the prudential policy is considered one of the key elements of the post-crisis reforms. The micro-and macro-prudential regulation framework is currently goin...

The EU has undergone major changes in the last 20 years, expanding its membership from 15 countries in 1995 to 27 countries in 2007, experiencing at the same time the deepening of banking integration. In this context, the aim of our research is to underline the changes occurred in the productivity of banks operating in Bulgaria and Romania, the cou...

The Romanian banking system has undergone through tremendous changes in the last decade, its financial soundness and performance being paramount in the achievement of a stable and sustainable economic growth. Thus, the aim of our research is to comparatively analyse the financial soundness of the commercial banks that operate in Romania. In order t...

Our paper aims to investigate the factors that have an influence upon the profitability of Romanian commercial banks, between 2003 and 2011. The results of our study show that Romanian banks’ profitability is influenced by both bank-specific factors and changes in the external environment. In the case of bank-specific factors, the results of our st...

For ensuring a healthy, solid and stable banking sector, the evaluation and analysis of bank profitability is crucial so that possible weak points and vulnerabilities can be corrected and disposed. The aim of our research is to empirically evaluate the impact of specific internal and external factors on bank profitability, for a sample of 86 commer...

The European integration process has a direct impact on all the components of the macroeconomic environment. The existence of a well functioning and sound banking sector becomes of great importance for the integration process as the European Union economy is financed especially through this channel. The banking sectors of the new EU member countrie...

The banking system represents the main channel through which most of the European Union economies are financed, this being the case especially for the new EU member states. Thus it becomes important to analyse and understand the way in which the efficiency and productivity of this sector evolves and is influenced by both, internal and external fact...

The European integration process and the development of innovative financial products and services have had a tremendous impact on the efficiency of European banks, especially in the case of the new EU member countries in the last two decades. In this context, the aim of our research is to investigate if the evolution of the technical efficiency of...

Against the background of the economic and financial crisis, public finances severely deteriorated in many EMU Member States and a new crisis, of sovereign debt, emerged. Considering ECB's recognized responsibility for ensuring overall financial stability, our paper shortly overviews the main monetary policy measures it adopted since May 2010, prov...

Bank loans are a vital resource for SMEs financing because of the reduced possibilities of these firms to find alternative sources of financing. In the context of the current crisis, the access to loans for SMEs has deteriorated significantly due to lower availability of bank loans, that can hamper the exit from the crisis of these firms and the re...

Over the last decade, in the context of a favorable international and national economic environment, most of the European countries, and especially the new EU member states, have known an accelerated expansion of the banking loans. The significant foreign capital inflows to the banking sector, the increase of the foreign banks position on the natio...

The European integration process is believed to provide advantages for the development of the economic environment of the candidate countries. The backbone of any modern economy is represented by the financial system, in the case of the new EU member states the banking sector being the main channel through which the economy is financed. In this con...

In recent years, pre-crisis years, the loans granted to household experienced an extremely accelerated dynamic in most new EU member states. Such a development has led to an increase in the degree of bank indebtedness of the households and to considerable macroeconomic and financial imbalances. The current crisis has stopped the rapid growth of the...

The SMEs' access to finance is crucial for the creation, survival and growth of these firms. In the light of the recent global crisis, the dramatic fall in demand for goods and services and the reduced availability of bank loans has led to the aggravation of the problems faced by SMEs when they prospect for purchasing financial resources. In this c...

The focus of our research is on the Romanian banking sector, analysing if, over the period 2002 to 2009, foreign banks have been more efficient than their domestic peers, as foreign banks can benefit from the experience and superior know-how of their parent banks and thus achieve a superior organisation and management process. To reach this aim, we...

During the period previous to the crisis, most of the EU new member states fromour research (especially Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,Poland and Romania) have registered a fast growth of the households indebtedness, whichhas lead to the extension of the vulnerabilities of this sector in front of some macroeconomicsho...

The current financial crisis has had a severe impact on the European financial systems, reinforcing the ongoing discussion about the scale, scope, performance, safety and soundness of the financial system and its institutions. In this context, the purpose of this research is to highlight, using an empirical approach and a quantitative analysis, the...

Over the last years foreign banks have gained the majority share of the banking assets from the new EU member states and at least in theory, these banks should be more efficient than their domestic peers as they tend to benefit and use more financial innovations in their daily activities. In turn, this can lead to an accumulation of sufficient capi...

Through their contribution to the creation of added value and new jobs, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have a significant role in the economic and social development of a country. However, these enterprises are facing numerous obstacles that limit their performance, growth and development. Among the difficulties faced by SMEs, the access t...

The current global crisis has had tremendous effects on the banking sectors from the new EU member countries. In this context it becomes important to analyse how the crisis has affected these banking systems and also how the monetary authorities from these countries have reacted in such an adverse situation in order to ensure the macro-stability an...

The retail payment services represent a key component of any European commercial bank operations, alongside other components like savings and deposits, consumer credit loans and mortgages. Taking into account the recent turmoil that has characterised the financial landscape of the European Union, it becomes interesting to investigate the role and t...

The access to finance is indispensable for the efficient allocation of capital and the enterprise development. However, when compared with large enterprises, small and medium enterprises face many difficulties when pursuing to procure financial resources. In Romania, the financial system is focused on banks so bank loans have an overwhelming share...

The aim of the present paper is to underline the international financial crisis implications on the monetary policy transmission mechanism at the European level. Our study illustrates the main features of the pass-through process in the light of recent financial tensions and the general impact of Eurosystem’s non-standard measures on the functionin...

SME sector has an important role in national economies, contributing significantly by creating added value and increasing labor employment. This paper aims to highlight the main features of the SME sector in Romania;is recorded positive developments, but also the effects of the European integration. The recorded progress shows that the SME sector d...

The easy access to financing of enterprises in general and of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular is of crucial importance, for it conditions their creation, survival and develop- ment, and, eventually, economic growth and the creation of workplaces. In comparison with large enterprises, SMEs are faced with numerous obstacles when obt...

The process of transmitting monetary policy impulses to the real economy presents o series of particularities from one country to another, mainly because of the diversity of financial systems. Thereby, the functionality of various monetary policy transmission channels is significantly influenced by the specific features of each country's finan...

SME sector has an important role in national economies through its significant contribution to the creation of GDP and to increasing labour employment. The current crisis has seriously affected a substantial part of the SME sector in Romania, as in other world countries. Such an assessment can be explained by the fact that unlike large firms, SMEs...